Editorial: Motivational interviewing in forensic settings

[Excerpt] Editorial on the Research Topic Motivational interviewing in forensic settings

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, goal-oriented, and person-centered approach designed to strengthen an individual's own motivation and commitment to change by eliciting and exploring personally meaningful reasons for change (Miller and Rollnick, 2023; Miller, 2023). Rather than relying on confrontation or persuasion, MI works through empathy, partnership, and the strategic evocation of change talk, which makes it especially relevant when ambivalence and resistance to change are prominent (Forsberg et al., 2025; Lim et al., 2025). This relevance is particularly evident in forensic and correctional settings, where many justice-involved individuals enter treatment, supervision, or rehabilitation under legal pressure rather than through fully voluntary help-seeking, and where motivation to change is closely tied to treatment engagement and clinical progress (Simpson and Penney, 2025; Zhao et al., 2025). In these contexts, MI offers an especially valuable framework because it allows practitioners to address resistance without escalating discord, while helping clients connect change goals to their own values, concerns, and future aspirations (Brockbank and Atkinson, 2026; Pinto e Silva et al., 2025b). [...]